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From funk to punk

By Anthony Pappalardo

Published Thursday March 7, 2013

Growing up on the Texas coast in the 1970s, artist/musician Tim Kerr's early creative outlets were playing guitar and surfing. Kerr later found skateboarding, art and punk rock, eventually forming the most recognizable band in the Texas scene: the Big Boys. Kerr's fluidity in music, surfing and skateboarding all seem to inform his artwork; in every medium he immerses himself in, there's a painterly looseness and flow that is rhythmic and soulful.

This year began with a flurry of output for Kerr, starting with a collaboration deck series with Stereo Skateboards (see the lovely video by David Bessenhoffer, above). He had a show at the Webb Gallery in Waxahachie, Texas, in February with fellow musician, poet and artist Daniel Higgs, titled "Cosmic Telephone Party Line" -- a celebration of and homage to visionary artists. A second show, "History Is His Story," opened Mar. 2, coinciding with Light In The Attic's re-release of the Big Boys' "Where's My Towel?" and 540 Records' re-release of the 12-inch "Fun Fun Fun." A third show, "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow," featuring Kerr and Stereo's Chris Pastras, among others, opens Mar. 9 in Hollywood, Calif.

In talking to anyone about Tim Kerr, his modesty, love of community and appreciation for creativity are always mentioned. It's fitting that an artist whom many consider visionary chooses to inspire others by sharing his heroes. XGames.com talked with Kerr recently about self-expression, recognizing work from the heart and what's on the horizon for 2013.

JPhoto Gallery

"Your Name Here"

Sandy Carson

"Monofonus Press did a reissue of the book that Altamont did of my art for me, 'Your Name Here.' I did an interview here in town to help Monofonus out for the release and requested [photographer] Sandy [Carson] if they needed photos. This was from 2011 or 2012 and taken in the "studio." I am pretty sure this is the photo they ended up using for the cover." -- Tim Kerr

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Josh Gibson

Sandy Carson

"A painting of [1930s and '40s Negro League baseball player] Josh Gibson on a heavy wood cabinet door. It's probably about four feet by two feet. I always say 'mixed media' because it's usually everything from house paint to markers." -- Tim Kerr

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Workshop

Sandy Carson

Tim Kerr, creating in his studio space in Austin, Texas. "Music, art, skating, surfing -- whatever you are doing, [it's] all self-expression and it should not have boundaries," he encourages.

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Higgs' hands

Sandy Carson

"My friend Dan Higgs' hands along with an amazing poem he wrote after a late night of me and him staying up to solve world problems. This is the drawing I used for the Animals and Children [skate]board. This one is another smaller cabinet door, but just as heavy as the others. Mixed media, three feet by 1.5 feet?" -- Tim Kerr

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Pushing buttons

Sandy Carson

"For the last seven years, I have been playing Irish music on the button accordion, and the last five years, old-time on the banjo. When the reissue came out for the ['Your Name Here'] book here in Austin [Texas], we had a pop-up art show with friends and a big old-time session and square dance at the Monofonus compound. Gotta do that again! This shot is when it was all over and I had now been playing some Irish tunes with a friend." -- Tim Kerr

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Rosa Parks

Sandy Carson

"Me painting Rosa Parks. This one is on Masonite and [is] probably three feet by two feet plus. Must have been sort of cold that day and that's why I have on that crazy hat (smile). There is a great quote where Rosa Parks is saying 'I was one of many.'" -- Tim Kerr

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Bouzoukie

Sandy Carson

"Every Monday morning, friends come over and we play Irish tunes here at the house/studio. We suspended [photographer] Sandy [Carson] in the air for this shot! I am playing a bouzoukie in this photo. Watch what you say if you are trying to bring one of those on a plane." -- Tim Kerr

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Bummed out

Sandy Carson

"I grow beards really quick, so I have them, then I don't have them. My wife Beth says I look like a crazy bum when I have one, and lo and behold, here I am in the Fairdale Roger bike commercial playing a crazy bum!" -- Tim Kerr

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Jerry Hagins

Sandy Carson

"Me [at right] and Jerry Hagins recording for the release of 'Up Around The Sun' that Monofonus is putting out this spring (2013). Super excited about this project." -- Tim Kerr

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Words to live by

Sandy Carson

Inspirational phrasing on the walls of Kerr's home studio.

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Blues brothers

Sandy Carson

"T. Model and Spam -- the real deal when it comes to blues, and if you haven't heard them ... well, your really big loss. They came to our house! Thanks to our friend Sweet Dog. That's another story (big smile).
This one is on cardboard and will be in L.A. (two feet by one foot?)." -- Tim Kerr

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Gulf Coast style

Roland Kirk & Claudette Colvin

Sandy Carson

"[Musician] Roland Kirk on another one of those cabinet doors. There is a really great short with Roland Kirk and John Cage on YouTube that everyone should see. Claudette Colvin is painted on Masonite (three feet by two feet). She would not give up her bus seat nine months before Rosa Parks; read about her and others. As Rosa says, 'I was one of many.' Indeed." -- Tim Kerr

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Civil controversy

Sandy Carson

"I don't paint on canvas because I just think it's more interesting to paint on found objects and recycled materials like cardboard or old maps, etc. I got talked into doing this piece on canvas. It's probably six feet by almost five [feet]. They ended up thinking it was too controversial and did not take it. I am proud of it and its message. I have a show coming up in October 2013 at the university in Birmingham, Ala., and I am wanting to donate this to the civil-rights museum there if they will have it." -- Tim Kerr

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Lensmen

Sandy Carson

"My friend Oliver has been wanting to do a show with me of painted skateboards. I started going over to the local skate shop, Apparition, and kept getting old, used boards in sets of three, so [I] started doing these series. This is the photographers one. When the whole bands/music journey started up, I sort of dropped the camera but still always saw things that would make great photos to me. Sort of the same way that once you start skating, you never see what's around you the same way." -- Tim Kerr

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Wordsmiths

Sandy Carson

"The soul series, with two from the writers series on the floor. One of my favorite books (and film) of all time is Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird.'" -- Tim Kerr

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Hard-wear hardware

Sandy Carson

"Plates in my left arm in '76 skating an empty pool in Bastrop [Texas], plates on my right wrist in [the] late '90s skating the Turkey Bowl ditch, rod down my left leg from playing guitar in Total Sound Group in the early 2000s .... Yep, still skating (smile)." -- Tim Kerr

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Holy trinity

Sandy Carson

[Avant-garde jazz saxophonist] Albert Ayler once said that [John] Coltrane was the father, Pharaoh was the son and he was the Holy Ghost." -- Tim Kerr

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Roland Kirk

Sandy Carson

"Another version of [jazz musician] Roland Kirk, this time on a heavy paper-stock map. Might be four feet by three feet. This one will be at the L.A. show along with paintings of the other people used for the Stereo boards on the same sorts of maps. I generally start with a drawing that I feel strong about and if I really like it, will do all sorts of variations on it." -- Tim Kerr

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Howard Finster

Sandy Carson

Tim Kerr examines his painting of Howard Finster, done on the same heavy-stock map as his portrait of Roland Kirk.

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Woody Guthrie

Sandy Carson

"Woody Guthrie on an old-school map of Oklahoma. I circled where he was from and wrote the verse of 'This Land Is Your Land' that they NEVER teach you in school." -- Tim Kerr

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Gil Scott-Heron & Lou Gehrig

Sandy Carson

"Gil Scott and Lou Gehrig on cardboard. I paint people that had some sort of impact on me, and these two certainly did. Both are small paintings and will be in L.A." -- Tim Kerr

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Sweatbox sessions

Sandy Carson

"I spent a good portion of the '90s and early 2000s with this guy, Mike Vasquez, at his Sweatbox studios [in Austin, Texas], recording bands. This was the new version of the place after the old burned down. This was probably taken a couple of years ago. Mike is now just outside of Portland [Ore.]." -- Tim Kerr

"Monofonus Press did a reissue of the book that Altamont did of my art for me, 'Your Name Here.' I did an interview here in town to help Monofonus out for the release and requested [photographer] Sandy [Carson] if they needed photos. This was from 2011 or 2012 and taken in the "studio." I am pretty sure this is the photo they ended up using for the cover." -- Tim Kerr

"A painting of [1930s and '40s Negro League baseball player] Josh Gibson on a heavy wood cabinet door. It's probably about four feet by two feet. I always say 'mixed media' because it's usually everything from house paint to markers." -- Tim Kerr

"My friend Dan Higgs' hands along with an amazing poem he wrote after a late night of me and him staying up to solve world problems. This is the drawing I used for the Animals and Children [skate]board. This one is another smaller cabinet door, but just as heavy as the others. Mixed media, three feet by 1.5 feet?" -- Tim Kerr

"For the last seven years, I have been playing Irish music on the button accordion, and the last five years, old-time on the banjo. When the reissue came out for the ['Your Name Here'] book here in Austin [Texas], we had a pop-up art show with friends and a big old-time session and square dance at the Monofonus compound. Gotta do that again! This shot is when it was all over and I had now been playing some Irish tunes with a friend." -- Tim Kerr

"Me painting Rosa Parks. This one is on Masonite and [is] probably three feet by two feet plus. Must have been sort of cold that day and that's why I have on that crazy hat (smile). There is a great quote where Rosa Parks is saying 'I was one of many.'" -- Tim Kerr

"Every Monday morning, friends come over and we play Irish tunes here at the house/studio. We suspended [photographer] Sandy [Carson] in the air for this shot! I am playing a bouzoukie in this photo. Watch what you say if you are trying to bring one of those on a plane." -- Tim Kerr

"I grow beards really quick, so I have them, then I don't have them. My wife Beth says I look like a crazy bum when I have one, and lo and behold, here I am in the Fairdale Roger bike commercial playing a crazy bum!" -- Tim Kerr

"T. Model and Spam -- the real deal when it comes to blues, and if you haven't heard them ... well, your really big loss. They came to our house! Thanks to our friend Sweet Dog. That's another story (big smile).
This one is on cardboard and will be in L.A. (two feet by one foot?)." -- Tim Kerr

"[Musician] Roland Kirk on another one of those cabinet doors. There is a really great short with Roland Kirk and John Cage on YouTube that everyone should see. Claudette Colvin is painted on Masonite (three feet by two feet). She would not give up her bus seat nine months before Rosa Parks; read about her and others. As Rosa says, 'I was one of many.' Indeed." -- Tim Kerr

"I don't paint on canvas because I just think it's more interesting to paint on found objects and recycled materials like cardboard or old maps, etc. I got talked into doing this piece on canvas. It's probably six feet by almost five [feet]. They ended up thinking it was too controversial and did not take it. I am proud of it and its message. I have a show coming up in October 2013 at the university in Birmingham, Ala., and I am wanting to donate this to the civil-rights museum there if they will have it." -- Tim Kerr

"My friend Oliver has been wanting to do a show with me of painted skateboards. I started going over to the local skate shop, Apparition, and kept getting old, used boards in sets of three, so [I] started doing these series. This is the photographers one. When the whole bands/music journey started up, I sort of dropped the camera but still always saw things that would make great photos to me. Sort of the same way that once you start skating, you never see what's around you the same way." -- Tim Kerr

"Plates in my left arm in '76 skating an empty pool in Bastrop [Texas], plates on my right wrist in [the] late '90s skating the Turkey Bowl ditch, rod down my left leg from playing guitar in Total Sound Group in the early 2000s .... Yep, still skating (smile)." -- Tim Kerr

"Another version of [jazz musician] Roland Kirk, this time on a heavy paper-stock map. Might be four feet by three feet. This one will be at the L.A. show along with paintings of the other people used for the Stereo boards on the same sorts of maps. I generally start with a drawing that I feel strong about and if I really like it, will do all sorts of variations on it." -- Tim Kerr

"I spent a good portion of the '90s and early 2000s with this guy, Mike Vasquez, at his Sweatbox studios [in Austin, Texas], recording bands. This was the new version of the place after the old burned down. This was probably taken a couple of years ago. Mike is now just outside of Portland [Ore.]." -- Tim Kerr

XGames.com: The sound of the Big Boys was different than that of many of your peers in that it wasn't linear; there were different genres, from punk to funk, being incorporated. What shaped this sound?
Tim Kerr: We started at a time when punk and new wave were all the same thing -- more DIY than anything, and a certain uniform or set of rules was nonexistent. A sort of "do what you want with your self-expression" was alive and well. I can't speak for anyone else, but that and the community of it is what drew me in. It's the same way I feel about self-expression today: It should have no limits. Music, art, skating, surfing -- whatever you are doing, [it's] all self-expression and it should not have boundaries.

As a band, [we] listened to all kinds of music and skated to Ohio Players and Kool And The Gang instead of Ted Nugent, so it was a given if we started a band that that influence was going to be there. It wasn't "thought out"; it was natural. There were no rules.

Big Boys shows were always described as very energetic with a major emphasis on making it a big performance; was that a reflection of your love for art or the attitude of the band?
[Singer Randy] Biscuit [Turner] was very visual on and off the stage. I am talking art-Dada visual. You never knew what he might have on or do from show to show, and that sort of spilled over on us. It was also the idea of just having big "happenings" happen and hoping you might plant a seed into someone there that they should start a band or do some sort of self-expression.

You obviously grew up skating some legendary ditches in Texas and saw a very formative time in skateboarding. What do you think about the change in skateboarding back to concrete parks, and what do you see in kids skateboarding today?
I grew up surfing on the Gulf Coast, so skating was always surfing to me. My biggest pet peeves about parks today is that any sort of bank they have has that "pitch" at the top instead of being like a ditch. If you do a lipslide, you are going to hang. I just wish there were some areas that had that flow of a ditch where your wheels don't have to leave the ground. I'm not talking snake runs, either. The old guard know[s] exactly what I mean (smile). [Texas'] Pflugerville Park has a great ditch.

I think what is going on with skating today is pretty amazing, but sometimes I think they are missing out on just rolling and sliding and that feeling you get of flowing when you do that.

"I think the best compliment I ever got on my art was someone that had no idea I played music telling me they heard music when they looked at my paintings."Tim Kerr

There are often civil-rights themes in your work; was that a product of some of the things you saw growing up that showed prejudice even in the punk scene?
I am definitely a product of my time, then and now. There are so many unsung heroes that people should know about and make the connection that they didn't do what they did to be famous; they did what they did because of a strong belief from the heart. The things that speak to me most in art, music, skating, etc., come from that heartfelt action.

In a time when the idea of "community" has changed with punk and skateboarding growing so much, do you feel connected to your local art or music scene? How important is that idea of community to you?
"Community" and "scene" are two different things to me. The older you get, I think you start realizing that there are a lot more of "them" than us, so when you find one of us, you should hug and celebrate what that person is offering. You form a sort of community of kindred souls through that.

If you and your friends cause some sort of scene to happen around what you are doing, then it will sooner [rather] than later take on a life of its own and you have no control. All you can do is stay true to yourself and values and walk your walk. If you and your friends are always walking forward, there is a good chance you will always be ahead of the curve, though that's not why you do what you do.

What were your earliest interests in the arts and when did you start painting?
I was attracted to art and music for as long as I can remember. I started playing guitar in elementary school and always did some sort of visual art. I did not really take formal classes until I went to college. They did not have guitar in the music department at that time, so I went to the art department. I started painting on big canvases then and was lucky enough to have [famed American street photographer] Garry Winogrand for the photography courses I was taking.

As soon as I graduated, the bands started up and I stopped taking photos and stopped painting on canvases. I was doing art through all the bands, but it was mostly flyers, ads, LP covers and some graffiti (mostly band names or saying something instead of big visuals). When people started asking me to show my art more in the early to mid-2000s, it was looking at [Jean-Michel] Basquiat and Twist's work that really pushed me back into the idea of painting big pieces again.

Tell us more about your collaborations with Stereo Skateboards and how you chose each subject for each rider.
The idea started the first time [Stereo co-founder] Chris [Pastras] saw my art. Russ Pope and I had a sort of crazy weekend pop-up show in L.A. Chris saw my art and said that I should do some graphics for Stereo. A couple of years went by, but it would keep coming up every so often. Last year I did a Vans-sponsored show in Portland [Ore.] and a good friend of Chris' (and now a good friend of mine), Arthur, saw my stuff and the first words out of his mouth were, "You should do some boards for Stereo!" He took the ball and ran with it, and that's how it finally came about.

I had already known about Stereo and always liked their vibe since they started. It's pretty cool to be a part of their anniversary. People keep telling me that it's a perfect match for what I do. I hope I get to do more. I originally sent them about 12 or so things and they picked from that. I am really happy with how they turned out.

You mention on your site that "I had always thought it would be really cool to do a show of Visionary artists where I do portraits, and then hanging around the portraits I have done, is that artist's work." Tell us more about the current show and the inspiration behind it.
The current show is at Webb Gallery [in Waxahachie, Texas]. They have a huge collection of visionary/outsider artist work. I got a list from them of names of artists they have and started doing research. I think in total I did 20-plus artists. Most are around four-by-three feet, but some are much bigger, on old-school pull-down maps. They will hang my portraits of the artist and then put that artist's work up around the portrait that I have done.

My friend Dan Higgs is also in the show with about 14 new pieces. I am pretty excited about it and I think it might be up for about two months.

You have another art show coming up in March; how does this differ from the Visionaries show?
This show had been sort of set a while back when we were talking about the release of the Stereo boards. [Stereo co-founders] Chris [Pastras] and Jason [Lee] and a lot of their crew do art and I thought it would be cool to do an art show when they came out. I was going to do an art show anyway in L.A. around that time and it just made sense to tie it together. Then it ended up that the Big Boys Light In The Attic release would be around the same time, so let's just turn it into a big celebration of self-expression!

My friend Rich Jacobs always has a wall of his friends' art when he does a show, so I have always tried to do the same to promote the community of this ... we just started asking and the list sort of grew (smile). As far as my art, this show will be more varied as far as subject matter, which is what I normally do. The difference is the record releases.

Punk and hardcore, skateboarding and art have always had a symbiotic relationship; why do you think it took 30 years for the artwork from these worlds to be respected outside these circles?
I don't think about that (smile). I think you cross the line into vain if you are looking for respect. All you can do is be responsible for your actions and hope to be some sort of positive influence. If one person picks up on what you are doing, it is an honor not to take lightly.

In the big picture, most people did not know any of those worlds existed till well into the '90s (smile). Depending on how you look at it, for better or for worse, Nirvana broke the dam for punk and hardcore, Tony Hawk and X Games for skating, and graffiti and the whole crew of folks that took the DIY attitude to the art world are doing it for art.

JEFF GROSSO'S TOP 10 BIG BOYS TRACKS

Can you give us all the details on the upcoming Big Boys re-releases?
Light In The Attic will be reissuing "Where's My Towel?/Industry Standard." It was done right after "Live At Raul's," which was a split LP -- us on one side and a really amazing band called The Dicks on the other. The guy that put it out did not really let us have much input, even though he said he would. When we would question something, he would say "Oh, that's just industry standard." Our friend David Bean knew we were not happy and said he wanted us to come record on his label (he was in a great band called The Judy's); that's how this record came about.

[Ed.'s note: Click here for a Light In The Attic mini-doc about the reissue, featuring some incredible archival footage and photos.)

Monofonus will be putting out "Up Around The Sun," which is me and my friend Jerry [Hagins] playing acoustic guitar and banjo. My friend Rich Jacobs and I have done some music together as well, and hopefully that might come out at some point.

A friend is reissuing "Fun Fun Fun" on vinyl and there is a Big Boys tribute record that another friend is doing in Canada.

I am painting a bike for Jim Kish (Kish Fabrications) for a bike show, recording more Lee Bains music and helping out my friends at an amazing non-profit assisting kids that want to be creative, called [Project] L.O.O.P.